After forcing the driver from the taxi, the two men took off with the cab, the driver's cell phone and $272 in profits from earlier in the night, according to the prosecutor.

SPRINGFIELD - A Springfield man who allegedly held a gun to a taxi driver's head before robbing him and stealing his cab was held on $200,000 bail Tuesday.

William Ramos, 25, pleaded not guilty to carjacking during his arraignment in Springfield District Court.

He was arrested Sunday afternoon after Springfield police learned that a yellow cab was parked outside a home several blocks from where it had been stolen Saturday night, Assistant District Attorney Cary Szafranski said.

Ramos and an accomplice flagged the cab down in the 1700 block on Main Street and said they wanted a ride to Plainfield Street; along the way, Ramos placed a firearm against the driver's neck, ordering him to "give me all the money," Szafranski said.

"The other passenger had a butcher's knife," she added.

After forcing the driver out of the taxi, the two men took off with the cab, the driver's cell phone and $272 in profits from earlier in the night, according to the prosecutor.

The driver identified Ramos as the gun-wielding assailant after his arrest, Szafranski said. Police are still seeking the second suspect.

The prosecutor asked for $200,000, citing the nature of the new charges and Ramos' history of arrests in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida and Texas.

Defense lawyer Aliki Recklitis opposed the request, saying her client was at his girlfriend's apartment at the time of the carjacking.

In the arrest report, the gunman was described as five feet, six inches tall while Ramos is considerably shorter, Recklitis said. "I'm 5'3'' and he's shorter than I am," she added.

At the prosecutor's request, Judge William Boyle set bail at $200,000 - or $195,000 more than the defense's bail request.

Boyle continued the case for a pretrial hearing next month.

Taliban gunmen stormed a university in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people and triggering an hours-long gunbattle with the army and police before the military declared that the assault in a town near the city of Peshawar was over.

CHARSADDA, Pakistan -- Taliban gunmen stormed a university in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people and triggering an hours-long gunbattle with the army and police before the military declared that the assault in a town near the city of Peshawar was over.

The attack stirred grim echoes of the horrific 2014 Peshawar school attack that killed more than 150 people, mostly children, and shocked the nation. It also prompted the Pakistani prime minister to pledge the country will wipe out the 'menace of terrorism.' Police said four attackers were also killed.

Wednesday's attack began shortly after the Bacha Khan University opened for classes in the town of Charsadda, some 35 kilometers (21 miles) outside Peshawar, said Deputy Commissioner Tahir Zafar.

As police and soldiers rushed to the campus, the attackers traded gunfire with the troops and several explosions were heard from the area of the university. The attackers were later contained inside two university blocks where the troops killed four attackers, the army said.

A chemistry professor and a student were among those killed, said Zafar, adding that it was not initially clear how many attackers managed to penetrate the campus. Television footage showed heavy military presence at the university, troops rushing in and people fleeing. Ambulances were at the scene and the wounded were taken to hospital.

The attackers entered the university compound by climbing over back walls and shooting at a security guard before they made their way to the administration building and the male students' dorms, police official Saeed Khan Wazir said.

A witness, botany teacher Mohammad Ishtiaq, said he jumped out from the second floor of the building when he heard gunshots and broke his leg. Two attackers were on first floor and three on the ground floor, he said, adding that they were using automatic assault rifles. The students ran in different directions, he said.

"I locked myself in a washroom," he said. "I jumped out when I saw one of the attackers coming toward me and shooting straight ahead of him."

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to fight to the end and destroy the Taliban and other militants.

"We are determined and resolved in our commitment to wipe out the menace of terrorism from our homeland," Sharif said in a statement.

A Taliban leader, Khalifa Umar Mansoor, claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack in a phone call to The Associated Press from an undisclosed location.

Mansoor, who was the mastermind mind the Peshawar school attack, said a four-man Taliban team carried out the assault in Chasadda. He said it was in revenge for the scores of militants the Pakistani security forces have killed in recent months. The main spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, Mohammad Khurasani, also reiterated the claim of responsibility.

Wednesday's attack was also the second Taliban attack in as many days in the volatile northwest. A suicide bomber riding a motorcycle struck a crowded police checkpoint on the outskirts of Peshawar on Tuesday, killing 11 people in an attack that was also claimed by the Taliban.

Later on Wednesday afternoon, provincial governor Sardar Mehtab Abbasi declared that the military operation on the campus grounds had been completed and that the attack was over. The troops were combing the nearby areas, searching for more possible attackers, he said.

Pakistani army chief Gen. Raheel Sharif visited the campus and a town hospital where the wounded were brought to.

The Bacha Khan University is named after the founder of a liberal, anti-Taliban political party. The Pakistani Taliban have in the past targeted the party for its anti-militant policies.

Pakistan's northwest and its lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan is a highly volatile region. Pakistani forces have been carrying out a major operation against the Taliban and other militants there since 2014.

Last month, as the country marked the first anniversary of the Peshawar school attack, the military claimed "phenomenal successes" in the war and said it has killed around 3,500 insurgents since launching the operation.

Though authorities say overall violence has declined since the wide-ranging military offensive was launched in North Waziristan, the Taliban still manage to carry out major attacks.

The Peshawar school attack horrified the country and led the government to lift a 2008 moratorium on the death penalty. Pakistan hanged four militants last month who were sentenced to death over the attack.

Retired Springfield police officer Kevin Burnham has denied charges he stole nearly $400,000 from the police evidence room.

SPRINGFIELD — Retired police officer Kevin Burnham, arraigned last week on charges he stole nearly $400,000 from the evidence room between 2009 and 2014, was back in Hampden Superior Court briefly Tuesday.

The court event was a "clarification of counsel" requested by Charles Dolan, who represented Burnham at his arraignment. At the time, Dolan said he was not sure if he would be the lawyer to continue on the case.

Dolan said Tuesday he was continuing as Burnham's lawyer.

Burnham was released on own recognizance at his arraignment with conditions that he surrender his passport, not leave the state without permission from the probation department, turn his firearms over to Dolan and turn his firearms license and FID card over to Police Commissioner John Barbieri.

The case is being prosecuted by the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office.

At Burnham's arraignment, Assistant Attorney General James O'Brien asked that Burnham be evaluated "for his health and well-being" by a court forensic clinician. Judge Constance M. Sweeney agreed to that condition, saying it would be a "limited inquiry" on the impact and likelihood of return for court dates.

On Tuesday, Sweeney said she had gotten the clinician's report and it shows the issue the clinician was asked to explore is not a concern.

The Springfield Public Health Council did not vote on whether to initiate site assignment proceedings for the proposed East Springfield biomass plant, following a lengthy public hearing Wednesday night.

The Springfield Public Health Council did not vote on whether to initiate site assignment proceedings for the proposed East Springfield biomass plant, following a lengthy public hearing Wednesday night.

"We will not be closing this hearing tonight," Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris said. "This is still an open hearing."

The council will continue to accept written testimony on the plant through next Wednesday, Caulton-Harris said.

The hearing featured detailed presentations from both developer Palmer Renewable Energy and opponents of the project. Critics highlighted alleged pollution and health risks while the company's attorney told the council that efforts to block the project are unlawful -- and could trigger a $200 million lawsuit against the city.

"I urge the city not to take this measure at this time, to reject this position on the basis that there is an undue exposure to liability," PRE attorney Thomas Mackie said.

Palmer Renewable Energy's engineering and health consultants delivered testimony defending the project, telling the council it was safe and efforts to block it unlawful.

"It is in fact probably the cleanest biomass project anywhere in the world, based on its air pollution controls," project engineer Dale Raczynski said, adding that the plant is designed with stronger measures to limit emissions than required by state regulators.

Michaelann Bewsee, a long-time critic of the project and an activist with Arise for Social Justice, argued that the emissions limits set by the Department of Environmental Protection are not sufficient to protect public health.

"We're not in good shape in Springfield. We have a number of very vulnerable communities," Bewsee said. "It's not good enough."

Sarita Hudson of the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition said that rates of respiratory illness in Springfield are well above state averages, placing residents at particular risk from air pollution. Hudson called for a detailed health impact analysis for the project.

"We're looking at a community that has health disparities already, compared to the rest of the state," Hudson said.  

The hearing sought to address competing claims by the project's attorneys and local opponents of the plant. It was punctuated with applause for the project's opponents from the crowd of approximately 75 residents who attended the two-hour hearing at Central High School and overwhelmingly opposed the project.

The developer argued that a series of rulings from state courts have established its right to build the plant, and that the city's Public Health Council lacks legal authority to prohibit PRE from building on the site. Opponents said that the plant could cause harmful air pollution, potentially causing health problems for local residents.

PRE could sue for up to $200 million in damages if its project is blocked by the board, its attorney warned in a letter to the council.

In the letter, PRE attorney Thomas Mackie wrote that air pollution regulations are the responsibility of the state DEP, not local authorities. The project has received needed approvals from the DEP.

Mackie cited a 2011 letter from the DEP to city health commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris, which said that the plant is expected to meet emissions standards, and a DEP appeals decision that found that existing permits sufficiently limit release of pollutants to avoid a public health risk.

Another letter from Dr. Peter Valberg, an environmental health consultant for PRE, argued that exposure to particulate matter from the plant would be less than common activities like occasional freeway driving or cooking in the home.

PRE's planned $150 million plant at the corner of Cadwell Drive and Page Boulevard would generate power by burning green wood chips. In 2014 the Massachusetts Land Court authorized building permits for the project, in Sept. 2015 a state appeals court upheld the permits and in November the Supreme Judicial Court also ruled in favor of PRE.

But the plant has drawn strong opposition from a laundry list of community, health and environmental groups, including Arise for Social Justice; Stop Toxic Incineration in Springfield; the Springfield Climate Justice Coalition; Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition, Gardening Our Community; Mason Square Health Task Force; Keep Springfield Beautiful; Out Now; and Partnership for Policy Integrity.

Those advocates warn that the plant would worsen air pollution and harm public health, claims disputed by the project's developer. The East Springfield neighborhood includes many residents who have asthma or have to cope with age-related disabilities would be disproportionately affected by emissions of carbon monoxide and particulate matter, critics say.

Critics of the plant have said that the Public Health Council has the authority to veto the site of the plan under a state law which gives health boards regulatory authority over projects that are "noisome" or "dangerous to the public health."

City Solictor Ed Pikula, however, said in an email that an attempt to override the DEP's authority over the project, after the agency already approved the plant, could expose the city to legal liability.

Pikula cited a 2005 case where the town of Freetown was ordered to pay over $3 million after a court found that it wrongly issued a site assignment for a coal-ash storage facility. That case was also litigated by Mackie's firm, Mackie said at the hearing.

"Monetary damages or costs are a risk," Pikula wrote.

SPRINGFIELD -- Property owners who abut the MGM Springfield casino project in the South End area urged the City Council on Wednesday night to set conditions that protect them from traffic hazards, congestion and other hardships. The testimony occurred during a second day hearing at City Hall conducted by the City Council to consider site plans for the $950 million...

SPRINGFIELD -- Property owners who abut the MGM Springfield casino project in the South End area urged the City Council on Wednesday night to set conditions that protect them from traffic hazards, congestion and other hardships.

The testimony occurred during a second day hearing at City Hall conducted by the City Council to consider site plans for the $950 million casino project including design changes proposed in recent months.

Those raising concerns said that while they support the casino project, they believe the submitted design and changes do not provide proper traffic circulation and create traffic conflicts between their tenants and casino traffic

Those speaking included representatives of Red Rose Pizzeria, the Colvest-Berkshire Bank property, the Pride store and station, and Michelman-Burstein law office property. Those raising concerns both verbally and in submitting documents included the property owners and/or their lawyers.

The casino design "essentially puts us in the middle of a rotary," said Jeff Burstein, of Michelman-Burstein. He said the property on East Columbus Avenue is crowded and will have dangerous traffic conditions including one proposed new lane no longer planned.

Springfield Public Works Director Christopher CIgnoli, however, said he believes that a widened turn planned from East Columbus to the casino actually improves traffic flow.

The council asked questions after public testimony, and continued the hearing to Monday night at 7 p.m., at City Hall, to be able to continue asking questions about the site plans and changes. Those questions can be directed to city officials, MGM Springfield officials, city consultants or the public, council President Michael Fenton said.

In addition several residents spoke for and against the casino site plans including some who had also spoken at the first hearing Tuesday night.

City Solicitor Edward Pikula said that some conditions sought by abutting property owners are actually covered by requirements of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and are proposed as conditions by the city. The conditions are not yet voted on.

Pride officials said their biggest concern is the traffic at Union Street and East Columbus Avenue, at the intersection with its tight gas station property.

City of Springfield Site Plan Update 011716 V9 Final

The fire was possibly started by an errant ember from a fireplace, an official said.

SPRINGFIELD - A fire, possibly started by an ember from a fireplace, started a fire in the rear of an East Forest Park home Wednesday night that caused about $10,000 damage, a Fire Department spokesman said.

Dennis Leger, aide to Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant, said no one was injured, and the residents were not displaced by the fire at 87 Benz St. Fire was limited to some siding and a portion of the deck in the rear of the home, he said.

The fire was quickly extinguished before it could break through to the interior or attic, he said.

Leger said officials believe the fire was started by embers from the fireplace that exited the chimney and then ignited some leaves up against the side of the house.

Carey, a law student, previously chaired the School Committee's finance subcommittee.

EASTHAMPTON -- At-large city councilor Daniel Carey has been named to the city's school building committee, after writing to Mayor Karen Cadieux and asking for the post.

"It seems like a perfect fit," said City Council president Joseph McCoy, moments before Carey's nomination was confirmed by the council Wednesday night.

"I'm an Easthampton High School graduate, Eagles, class of 2003," Carey told The Republican. "I was chairman of the School Committee's finance subcommittee for two years. Now I'm on the finance committee of the City Council. Serving on the building committee seemed like a good way for me to contribute."

Carey said he has been impressed with the new $39.2 million Easthampton High School, which opened in 2013.

Carey, a law student at Western New England University, works in the office of Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan. He is beginning his first two-year term on the City Council.

The school building committee met for the first time in November. It's chaired by Thomas Brown, senior vice president at Easthampton Savings Bank.

In September, the city was invited by the Mass. School Building Authority to conduct a feasibility study for a new school. Officials have said they'd like to look at a range of options, including a consolidated K-8 facility to replace three aging elementary schools and the White Brook Middle School.

Besides Carey, the building committee includes Brown, Cadieux, Superintendent Nancy Follansbee, city finance director Melissa Zawadzki, interim school business services director Dayle Doiron, businessmen David Boyle and Patrick Brough, School Committee chair Deborah Lusnia, Maple School principal Judith Averill, school maintenance director Peter Roy, Fire Chief David Mottor, Center for EcoTechnology staffer Marin Goldstein, and Zoning Board of Appeals chair John Atwater.

A Texas man put to death Wednesday for a killing 15 years ago became the busy death penalty state's first prisoner executed in 2016.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- A Texas man put to death Wednesday for a killing 15 years ago became the busy death penalty state's first prisoner executed in 2016.

Richard Masterson, 43, was pronounced dead at 6:53 p.m., 25 minutes after the lethal injection began.

"I'm all right with this," he said. "Sometimes you have to live and die by the choices you make. I made mine and I'm paying for it."

He said he was being sent "to a better place."

He mouthed a kiss to relatives and friends who were watching the execution through a window and told them he loved them. As the pentobarbital took effect, he began snoring. After about a dozen snores, he stopped moving.

Masterson had claimed the January 2001 strangulation of Darin Shane Honeycutt was accidental and had several appeals before the courts, including four with the U.S. Supreme Court. His last-day efforts to stop his execution were rejected.

Texas is the nation's busiest death penalty state, having carried out 13 lethal injections in 2015, which accounted for nearly half of the 28 executions nationwide.

Masterson had testified at his trial that the death of the 35-year-old Honeycutt in Houston happened accidentally during a chokehold that was part of a sex act. The two had met at a bar and then went to Honeycutt's apartment.

Honeycutt was an entertainer who performed dressed as a woman. Honeycutt's stage name was Brandi Houston.

No family members or friends of Honeycutt witnessed Masterson being executed.

Court records showed Masterson confessed to police, told others about the killing and acknowledged Honeycutt was slain on purpose in a letter to the Texas attorney general in 2012.

"I meant to kill him," Masterson wrote to then-Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is now the state's governor. "It was no accident."

Evidence showed Masterson stole Honeycutt's car, dumped it in Georgia, and was arrested at a Florida mobile home park more than a week later with another stolen car. That car belonged to a Tampa, Florida, man who testified he was robbed by Masterson but survived a similar sex episode where he was choked.

Masterson's attorneys argued Honeycutt's death was accidental or the result of a heart attack, that a Harris County medical examiner whose credentials have been questioned was wrong to tell jurors it was a strangulation, that Masterson's earlier lawyers were deficient and that his prolonged drug use and then withdrawal while in jail contributed to his "suicide by confession" when he spoke to police and in the letter to Abbott.

Lawyers also contended trial jurors were given an incomplete instruction before their deliberations and that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Masterson his rights to due process and access to the courts by refusing their challenge to a new state law that keeps secret the identity of the provider of pentobarbital that Texas prison officials use for lethal injections.

State lawyers argued that Masterson's attorneys offered no scientific evidence about Honeycutt's death that hadn't been previously raised and rejected, including by jurors at Masterson's 2002 trial. Federal courts had no jurisdiction in the execution drug secrecy because it was a state matter, they contended.

Masterson had a long drug history and criminal record beginning at age 15. Court documents showed he ignored advice from lawyers at his trial for the killing and insisted on telling jurors he met Honeycutt at a bar and they went to Honeycutt's Houston apartment where Masterson said the chokehold was part of an autoerotic sex act.

Honeycutt's body was found Jan. 27, 2001, after friends became worried when he failed to show up for work.

Masterson also told jurors he was a future danger -- an element they had to agree with in order to decide a death sentence was appropriate.

Masterson's case recently drew the attention of Pope Francis, who has reinforced the Catholic Church's opposition to capital punishment.

At least eight other Texas death row inmates have executions scheduled for the coming months, including one set for next week.

The man known as 'The Lip' was no stranger to controversy on or off the field.

Editor's note: This is the second article in a series profiling members of the Western Mass. Baseball Hall of Fame's Class of 2016.

Only 23 major league managers have made it to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and only one of them - Leo Durocher - hails from Western Massachusetts.

It's fitting, then, that this flamboyant fellow from West Springfield be part of the WMass Baseball Hall of Fame. On Jan. 28, he will be inducted posthumously in the hall's Class of 2016. Tickets to the enshrinement dinner, set for Springfield's La Quinta hotel, can be purchased by visiting the Valley Blue Sox web site,

"Leo the Lip," as he came to be known in his colorful career, managed in the majors for 25 years, winning three pennants and one world championship. All the while, he made more than his share of headlines - sometimes for off-the-field events.

The most notable occurred during spring training of 1947. At the time, Durocher was managing the Brooklyn Dodgers, and had Jackie Robinson pegged to be in his opening day lineup as the player who would erase major league baseball's "color line."

Instead, Durocher drew a one-year suspension from baseball commissioner Happy Chandler for what he termed "association with known gamblers." The suspension went into effect before the 1947 season began.

Durocher returned to baseball in 1948, and made more headlines when he switched managing jobs, going on July 16 from the Dodgers to their hated rivals, the New York Giants.

As a player for 17 years, Durocher had roles on two of baseball's great teams - the New York Yankees of 1928 and the St. Louis Cardinals of 1934.

As a 22-year-old with the Yankees, Durocher played as a backup to shortstop Mark Koenig and second baseman Tony Lazzeri on a team that won 101 games and swept the Cardinals in the World Series.

With the Cardinals six years later, Durocher fit perfectly into the team's "Gas House Gang" image as he played shortstop in an infield that had Ripper Collins at first, Frankie Frisch at second and Pepper Martin at third. With Dizzy Dean as a 30-game winner, the '34 Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series.

As a manager, Durocher was involved in two of baseball's memorable pennant races. His Dodgers of 1942 won 104 games - usually more than enough for a pennant - yet lost to a Cardinals powerhouse that won 106. In 1951, Durocher's Giants charged from 13 games behind on Aug. 11 to tie Brooklyn for first place at season's end, forcing a pennant playoff, which the Giants won on Bobby Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world" home run.

In their remarkable comeback, Leo's Giants went 38-8, including a 16-game winning streak which began Aug.12 and lasted until Aug. 29. Over the last two weeks of the season, Durocher's Giants won 12 of 13 to finish in a tie for first place.

In 1954, his Giants pulled one of the great upsets in World Series history, sweeping a Cleveland Indians club that had set an American League record with 111 victories.

After 10 years away from the game, Durocher returned as manager of the Chicago Cubs in 1966. Three years later, he experienced one of baseball's memorable collapses. His Cubs led the National League East by eight and one half games, then folded as the New York Mets rushed past them to win the division title, then the pennant and World Series.

He managed the Cubs until 1972, then finished his career as manager of the Houston Astros for two seasons.

After years of being bypassed in Cooperstown, Durocher was elected in 1994 by the Veterans Committee. His election came three years after his death at the age of 86.

A 33-year-old woman was arrested Wednesday afternoon at Bellamy Middle School following a loud and heated dispute in the front office during which police say she head-butted the vice principal.

These were the most read stories on MassLive.com yesterday. If you missed any of them, click on the links below to read them now. One of the most viewed photo galleries was Dave Roback's pictures of the renovation of Union Station in Springfield, above.

1) Nearly half million dollars stolen from Mohegan Sun in suspected 'inside job' [Michelle Williams]

2) Holyoke Fire Department: Fuel company accidentally pumps oil into basement of home with no tank [George Graham]

3) 'You went to Berklee?' judge asks West Springfield shoplifting suspect [Jack Flynn]

4) Chicopee mom charged with A&B at Bellamy School; police say she fought with officer, head-butted vice principal [Patrick Johnson]

5) Health and safety audits find hundreds of violations at Western Massachusetts county jails [Shira Schoenberg]

The oldest paramedic at Ground Zero following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on 9/11, Ben Jones, retired as CEO of the Springfield insurance company, maintained that people should be active in retirement.

SPRINGFIELD — Benjamin Franklin Jones, the former president and CEO of Monarch Life Insurance Company in Springfield and the oldest paramedic at Ground Zero following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, died Jan. 14 in Stuart, Florida, at the age of 93.

A graduate of Dartmouth College and a U.S. Army veteran, serving during World War II, he joined the Monarch Life Insurance Co. in New York City where he rose from field underwriter to managing his own agency in Cleveland, Ohio in 1953. He was the company's first agent to underwrite $1 million of insurance in a single year and was among the 35 top underwriters. In the early 1960s he moved to Springfield as vice president of agency operations, later becoming president and CEO and ultimately chairman of Monarch.

He was always community-minded and worked many hours with civic organizations, including: the Springfield Theater Arts Association to establish a resident repertory program; as Finance chair to Western New England College; Community Council of Greater Springfield; board member of Trinity Church; Head of the United Fund; Wesson Memorial Hospital; Head of the Drug Abuse Task Force which established a narcotics addict rehabilitation home; Chairman of the Governor's Advisory Council for Comprehensive Health Planning; Chairman of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce.

Civic awards included the prestigious Pynchon Award for good citizenship and outstanding public service and the Boy Scouts of America as distinguished citizen of the year. In 1984 Ben carried the ceremonial Olympic torch on one leg of its trip to Los Angeles for the summer games.

After a 40-year career with Monarch, he pursued a lifetime interest as a first responder. He and his wife of 71 years, Betty, were trained as EMTs at Springfield College. Jones continued his training in the first class of paramedics at the college. He began his second career as a volunteer in Springfield and later in Shelter Island, New York, and Stuart, Florida.

Robert Hopkins, assistant professor of EMS Management at Springfield College, trained Jones as a paramedic.

He said Jones loved the camaraderie of serving as a paramedic. "He was a strong, wiry guy, a combat veteran of World War II. He was a man of the people," Hopkins said.

"Being a paramedic was a good fit for him," Hopkins said. "He was very kind, and he lived a wonderful life," he said. Hopkins said that being a paramedic is "more of a calling than a job."

"He was a generous man, and he did God's work," he added.

After his retirement as chairman of the board at Monarch Capital Corp., Jones spent time talking about opportunities for people who are retiring. He maintained that senior citizen workers could enjoy the benefits of working - being productive, meeting people and making money - without all the job related pressures they faced in their first careers.

Jones served on an ambulance that responded to the fatal shooting of two Springfield police officers.

As an EMT in Shelter Island, Jones was the oldest paramedic at Ground Zero following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11, 2001. In a later interview, Jones said the air quality was terrible. He described it as breathing "ground up cement."

His crew served in the decontamination area under the Brooklyn Bridge. Jones' team was in charge of treating the officers' eyes, flushing the officers' eyes of dust and cement.

His son, Douglas Jones, said his father continued to serve as an EMT in Shelter Island and Stuart until about a year ago.

"He had incredible drive," his son said. His son said he believes that serving as an EMT was "one of the things that kept him going."

David Starr, president of The Republican Co., said Jones was "one of the visionary leaders who brought the private and business sectors together to revive Springfield's ailing downtown in the 1980s and '90s."

Starr said, "Thanks to corporate activists like him, Springfield Central, the downtown business development organization, persuaded private developers to spend more than $400 million for the construction of Monarch Tower, the Sheraton Hotel, the TD Bank headquarters, the Morgan Square apartments and many other projects."

J. William Ward, retired president and CEO of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, said that Jones as former chair of the Regional Employment Board, was instrumental in the creation of one-stop career centers in Springfield and Holyoke. "He was responsible for a lot of positive things that remain in this area," Ward said.

Jones is survived by his wife Betty Jane, his three children, son Douglas Jones of Ellsworth, Maine, his daughters Susan Jones of Ithaca, New York, and Nancy Jones of Somers, Connecticut, and his five granddaughters and two great-grandchildren.

He also leaves a sister, Elizabeth Crandall of Shelter Island, New York.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Shelter Island Ambulance Foundation Inc., P.O. Box 547, Shelter Island, NY 11964 or to the Union Chapel in the Grove, P.O. Box 326, Shelter Island Heights, NY 11965.

Holyoke Council President Kevin Jourdain said the mayor's dispute with the tax collector was a big factor in the collector quitting.

HOLYOKE -- Mayor Alex B. Morse said he doesn't think he is to blame for the pending departure of Tax Collector David Guzman, who clashed with Morse over issues related to staffing and a new method of bill-paying the mayor wanted established.

"Not at all. My only goal was to make the office more efficient, it was never about Dave's performance as tax collector. I thank David for his work over the years and I wish him well in his new endeavor," Morse said in an email Tuesday.

Guzman filed a letter (see below) Friday with the City Council, which appoints the tax collector, saying his resignation was effective Jan. 29 as he has taken a new job. Guzman has not returned messages left seeking comment.

The clash with the mayor included Guzman being issued a discipline in the form of a warning letter after Morse said Guzman showed "insubordination" in an email about their dispute.

The dispute centered on Morse's decision not to fill a head clerk position in the tax collector's office and Morse wanting Guzman to provide a plan for the establishment of the "lock box" bill-paying system.

Guzman said he wasn't insubordinate but was speaking up for his staff and highlighting the office's needs.

Council President Kevin A. Jourdain said his conversations with Guzman show the disputes with Morse prompted his exit.

"I think it's quite obvious that was a huge factor. Based on my conversations with David, that's why he said he was looking elsewhere," Jourdain said.

Other factors undoubtedly affected why he is resigning, the council president said, but Guzman felt his reputation was at stake in the wake of the disagreements with Morse.

"So based on my conversations, I think it was a significant factor, which is unfortunate. I thought David was doing an excellent job," Jourdain said.

Guzman's letter didn't mention the disagreements with Morse. In it, he thanked councilors for their "unwavering support," said it has been a pleasure working for the city, praised staff members Debbie Haslam and Yaritza Rodriguez and urged that 40-year veteran Haslam be appointed acting tax collector.

"Finally, I am truly grateful and blessed to have worked with such wonderful people such as my staff, department heads, support staff and all city employees," Guzman said. "I wish you all nothing but the best. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be the city of Holyoke's Collector of Taxes and I am proud to leave the office in a much better place than when I received it."

With such a vacancy, the City Council usually advertises that the position is available, interviews candidates and votes to fill the job.

Morse said the pending tax collector vacancy was an opportunity to act on what officials have discussed for years in the form of a restructuring of finance departments.

"We must also explore the possibility of handing over the responsibilities of the tax collector to the city treasurer," Morse said.

On the Nov. 3 Election Day ballot, voters rejected a binding question about making a city treasurer-related change. Voters said no to the question, "Should the city treasurer be changed from an elected to an appointed position?"

The vote on that question was close, though: 4,695, or 50.4 percent, said no, and 4,618, or 49.6 percent, said yes.

Resignation letter from Holyoke Tax Collector David Guzman:

Lamson & Goodnow has 35 employees now and plans to grow soon to more than 50 workers.

WESTFIELD - Local private equity firm Longmeadow Capital Partners has purchased venerable knife maker Lamson & Goodnow out of bankruptcy giving Lamson management hope that they'll have access to enough capital to grow the business at its new factory here.

Lamson plans to keep its factory store in Shelburne Falls and open a new one in the coming months adjacent to its new factory at 79 Mainline Drive in Westfield, president and CEO James C. Pelletier said Wednesday.

Lamson moved into 79 Mainline Drive in the summer of 2015.

He said it will take a few months to do the necessary renovations for a factory store at the site.

The purchase will result in the company taking a new name: LongCap Lamson Products LLC.

The purchase price was $1.98 million according to documents on file with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Springfield.

Founded in 1837, Lamson & Goodnow bills itself as the oldest cutlery manufacturer in the United States. But it filed for bankruptcy in 2014 citing years of mismanagement and heavy debt.

Owner James Ross Anderson came out of retirement to save the company. He brought in new mangers who moved it from its historic but flood-prone and inefficient factory on the Buckland shore of the Deerfield River in Shelburne Falls.

The deal with Longmeadow Capital Partners includes some real estate in Shelburne Falls, but the majority of the factory site has already been sold to a different investor

The bankruptcy left Lamson so short of capital it had trouble buying steel, wood and other raw materials to fulfill orders, Pelletier said.

"We used whatever money we had coming in through receivables," Pelletier said. "Now, we are spending a lot of money to build up our inventory to where it needs to be. "One of the greatest things to now have is an owner who is going to financially support all the programs that we have."

The lack of inventory hurt sales, according to bankruptcy papers. The company told the bankruptcy court that sales for the year 2015 totaled $1.78 million through Oct. 15. In 2014 the sales totaled nearly $3 million.

In the interview, Pelletier said a lack of cash meant delays. And many of Lamson's customers won't place more orders until the last one is fulfilled.

Those customers run from high-end kitchen goods store Williams-Sonoma , the Swiss Army kitcehn wear brand, and All-Clad cookwear.

Lamson & Goodnow's kitchen tools are used by professional chefs and are standard issue at chains like McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's, Pelletier said.

The company has 35 employees now in Westfield and hopes to get up above 50. Pelletier wants to add sales people, engineers and mangers as well as production workers to meet what he believes to be a pent-up demand.

Longmeadow Capital Partners and its managing member Richard B. Steele deferred questions Wednesday to Pelletier.

Longmeadow Capital Partners also owns Hebert Candies in Shrewsbury.

On its website, Longmeadow Capital Partners said it bought well-known Hebert Candies in 2005. Hebert was founded in 1917. Today, Longmeadow Capital Partners runs Hebert through a subsidiary called American Gourmet Group which also has a gift-basket division called Gifted Expressions.

"The synergies are obvious," Pelletier said. "We could create gift baskets that include Lamson products, like our small seafood set or a barbecue set."

Retired Springfield Police Detective, charged in Hampden Superior Court with stealing $385,000 from the police evidence room, has contributed $1,600 in campaign donations to four candidates including two district attorneys, a Congressman and a state representative.

SPRINGFIELD - While retired police detective Kevin Burnham was allegedly siphoning hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug seizure cash from the Springfield police evidence room, he was simultaneously being fairly generous to local elected officials.

Records filed with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance show Burnham contributed about $1,600 in campaign donations to four candidates since 2007. They include former Hampden District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni, now a federal judge; current Hampden District Attorney Anthony D. Gulluni; state Rep. Angelo Puppolo, D-Wilbraham; and U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, Springfield's longtime Democratic Congressman.

While the donations are not eye-popping amounts, given the charges against Burnham in Hampden Superior Court, they place the candidates in a somewhat awkward spot. Burnham, a 43-year veteran of the police force, is accused of stealing $385,000 from evidence room envelopes between late 2009 and 2014, the year of his retirement.

Officials with Attorney General Maura Healey's office, which is prosecuting the case, said Burnham took advantage of his position as the primary evidence room officer to loot sealed envelopes of cash, often leaving just the empty envelopes behind.

In one instance, he took all but $139 from an envelope containing $108,000 seized from a heroin dealer in 2014, according to the charges. In another case, nearly $25,000 disappeared from evidence seized from a dead defendant in 2012, court records state.

Burnham pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of larceny during his arraignment on Jan. 11. The allegations have roiled the police department; Commissioner John Barbieri has said the department was "blindsided" by the accusations and he has since ordered an extensive modernization of evidence room policies and procedures.

Of the campaign donations Burnham made, state records show he contributed $625 to Neal's campaign between 2007 and 2015 in $125 increments. He donated $300 to Gulluni over two months in 2014, $400 to Mastroianni over eight months in 2010 and $250 to Puppolo between 2011 and 2014.

The contributions could be considered particularly sticky for the former and current district attorneys. For his part, Gulluni said he plans to purge his $33,000 campaign account of the Burnham donations.

Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni.
 

"This situation has deeply saddened me. As a public official, upholding the public's trust is paramount and that has been allegedly violated. While this unfortunate situation is adjudicated I will be donating any funds in question to charity," Gulluni said in a statement.

Mastroianni declined comment as he was sworn in as a federal judge in June of 2014. His campaign account is still open with a $13,000 balance, state records show.

U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni.
 

Neal released a statement through a spokesman.

"Congressman Neal has known Kevin Burnham for more than 40 years. He has been a friend, a work colleague and a loyal supporter. During his time of need, the Congressman's thoughts are with Kevin and his family," said William Tranghese, spokesman for Neal.

Tranghese added that Neal has no plans to purge his staggering $2.7 million war chest of the drop-in-the-bucket figure.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, is shown here at a press conference with Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri in the background.
 

When Burnham retired, Neal delivered a glowing tribute to his old friend from the House floor.

"Ask anyone in the department who their favorite co-worker was, and the reply would likely be Kevin Burnham. They admired his dedication, strength and courage. They enjoyed his sense of humor and the laughter that seemed to follow him everywhere. And his loyalty was unquestioned," Neal told his colleagues, and later posted the tribute to a Congressional website. "And on behalf of the United States of America, it gives me personal satisfaction to congratulate him on an extraordinary career serving and protecting the citizens of Springfield. Well done Detective Burnham."

State Rep. Angelo Puppolo, D-Wilbraham.
 

Puppolo, a six-term representative, did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. His campaign account contains around $200,000 and has exceeded that amount at times, putting him almost on a par with state Sen. President Stanley Rosenberg and Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo in terms of fund-raising.

Higher prices are not correlated to better quality, according to a study by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.

There remains huge variability in Massachusetts between the prices paid to different health care providers for the same services, and higher prices are not correlated to better quality, according to a study released Wednesday by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.

"This unwarranted price variation, combined with the large share of patient volume at higher-priced providers, results in increased health care spending," the report found. "It also perpetuates inequities in the distribution of health care resources that threaten the viability of lower-priced, high quality providers."

The study conducted by the Health Policy Commission, an independent state agency, found that since 2010, huge disparities in prices among hospitals and doctors groups have persisted. The higher priced providers often have the most patients. This makes sense since the larger a hospital is, the more power it has to negotiate better rates with insurance companies. But it also means that more people are paying more money for health care. Insurance companies can pay the highest-priced hospitals three times the rate paid to the lowest-price hospitals for the same services, the report found.

The study found that high prices do not correlate with better quality health care. Rather, they are tied to market factors such as less competition in a region or membership in certain medical systems.

The Health Policy Commission recommends that the state take some action to reduce price variation. The commission said it needs to do more analysis before it can recommend specific policy changes, but some possibilities include increasing price transparency, limiting charges for certain out-of-network services, directly limiting price variation and others.

A union of health care workers, 1199SEIU, is advocating for a ballot question and legislation that would limit the disparities in the amount commercial insurers can pay different hospitals for the same procedure.

Tyrek Lee, vice president of 1199SEIU, said the report shows the need for pricing reforms. "This report ... confirms what health care workers have said about health care pricing disparities posing a grave threat to consumers, community hospital access, and to health care jobs across the state," Lee said.

Read the full report below:

Health Policy Commission study

"The facts here are so egregious that high cash bail is appropriate," Assistant District Attorney Cary Szafranski said.

SPRINGFIELD - Richard Agosto didn't bother to knock.

Paying a surprise visit to his ex-girlfriend's apartment early Sunday morning, he broke a window and jumped into her bedroom instead, police said.

"She woke up to a loud noise caused by him breaking her bedroom window," Assistant District Attorney Cary Szafranski said during Agosto's arraignment in Springfield District Court.

Once inside, Agosto assaulted the woman's new boyfriend before scooping up his one-year-old daughter and fleeing, the prosecutor said.

Responding to a 911 call from the mother, Springfield police eventually tracked Agosto and his daughter to his Dickinson Street home and arrested him, the prosecutor said.

On Tuesday, Agosto, 21, of Springfield, pleaded not guilty to burglary, assault and battery and kidnapping of a minor by a relative.

The prosecutor asked for $5,000 bail.

"The facts are so egregious that a high cash bail is appropriate," Szafranski told Judge William Boyle.

Defense lawyer Aliki Recklitis asked for $250 bail, noting that her client is the custodial parent and his daughter was visiting her mother's apartment Saturday night.

The mother's new boyfriend was sleeping over and Agosto got into a confrontation with him before taking the baby, the lawyer said.

Agosto has no criminal record, and his ex-girlfriend does not fear for her safety, Recklitis added.

At the prosecutor's request, Boyle set bail at $5,000 and scheduled a pretrial hearing for next month.

The play is staged in conjunction with the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District One Book, One Community Project.

WILBRAHAM — Wilbraham United Players will present the stage adaptation of Grace Lin's Newberry Award-winning book, "Where The Mountain Meets The Moon." The stage adaptation is by Jeannine Coulombe.

Performances will be Feb. 19 and 20. Shows both dates are at 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m..

The cast features youth and young adult actors from the towns of Wilbraham and Hampden and neighboring communities and is directed by Meghan Lynn Allen. The play is staged in conjunction with the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District One Book, One Community Project.

All performances will be held in the Minnechaug Regional High School auditorium at 6221 Main St. in Wilbraham.

Tickets are available in advance on the web through the Wilbraham United Player's website at www.wilbrahamunitedplayers.com or the day of show at the door. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students under age 18.

The Holyoke public works chief said regular moisture checks are done on the 2,000-ton supply of road salt.

HOLYOKE -- City Councilor James M. Leahy wants to ensure the Department of Public Works does regular checks on road-salt supplies so they stay effective, which is to say, not moist.

"As a senior member of the council I sent this to the 'DPW' and to the DPW commission to make sure we continue this process and to make sure the city is doing everything possible to save money," said Leahy, a councilor at large.

The state Department of Transportation regulates the moisture level of road salt supplies and if the moisture level is too high, a city or town can get a cash credit from the supplier.

The council referred Leahy's order about road-salt checks Tuesday to the Department of Public Works (DPW) and DPW commission.

Salt is spread over roads in winter to make them passable by preventing the freezing process from occurring or melting existing ice.

The city has bought 2,000 tons of road salt for the winter and workers regularly check its moisture level, said William D. Fuqua, general superintendent of the Department of Public Works.

James M. Leahy(FILE PHOTO) 

"Per our salt supply specifications, the road salt we receive must not exceed a certain moisture content (1.5 percent by weight). If it is determined through city testing that the delivery exceeds this limit, then the vendor must reduce the weight of the material delivered by two times the moisture content," Fuqua said Tuesday in an email.

"We've been using this specification and testing method (same as MassDOT) for many years as a check against receiving and paying for water weight and not actual road salt.

"Typically salt can pick up moisture by being stored outside or transported without covering during bad weather. Historically we have not had trouble with excess moisture in our salt deliveries. Each year however we do recoup from our supply vendor the calculated water weight we've received through the winter that had exceeded the specification.

"Last year we sampled and tested over 995 tons of salt and received 0.8 percent in excess water weight. That equated to a credit from our supplier of a little more than $1,000. We spent $386,000 in total on salt last year," Fuqua said.

Last winter, the city used 4,800 tons of road salt, he said.

Vito Resto was found guilty of kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery for the Springfield crimes. Watch video

SPRINGFIELD -- A Hampden Superior Court jury on Wednesday found Vito Resto guilty in a case in which he was charged with strapping a man to a cross and beating him in Springfield.

Resto was found guilty of kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery. Carmello Rivera was listed as the victim in all three charges.

Resto was acquitted of the same crimes for a victim listed as "unknown." Rivera had testified he saw Resto strap another man to a cross and beat him.

Because Resto has previous convictions his status as a subsequent offender will be addressed Thursday either by trial on whether the previous offenses qualify or by agreement between the parties. Sentencing by Judge Richard J. Carey would be after that is determined.

A defense witness testified Wednesday that Resto bought the material for the cross so a rap music video could be made.

Christian Velez, 33, of Springfield, testified Resto - an acquaintance of his - brought material to an area behind housing units on Orchard Street so rappers making a video could build a cross to use in the video.

In his closing argument Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Robert A. Schmidt said, "The rap video defense is patently absurd."

The case went to the jury for deliberations midday Wednesday, and the jury had a verdict by 3 p.m.

Rivera testified that Resto, 37, of Springfield, put him face first on the cross, Velcroed his hands and hit him three times with a fiberglass stick in December 2014.

Rivera said he worked as a drug dealer for Resto, and Resto was punishing him because a supervisor told Resto that Rivera stole a knife.

Just as he did in his opening statement Tuesday, defense lawyer Daniel D. Kelly told jurors in his closing argument they cannot believe Rivera.

Kelly's second and final defense witness, private investigator Richard Williams, testified he had gone to Home Depot on Tuesday and purchased the exact same things Resto purchased at Home Depot on Nov. 28, 2014.

Kelly introduced through Williams the screws and bit that Resto purchased. Schmidt had the two-by-four and four-by-four like the ones Resto purchased brought into the courtroom for jurors to see.

Rivera testified he saw Resto nail the cross together using a hammer. A Home Depot employee called by the prosecution to verify what Resto purchased said under cross-examination by Kelly the screws could not have been nailed into the wood for the cross with a hammer.

"You know he (Rivera) lied about this," Kelly said. "That's a pretty significant thing."

Kelly also went over the conflicting testimony from Rivera about the dates events took place.

"He told a pretty fantastical tale," Kelly said.

He said it is completely plausible the reason the cross was constructed was to be the central theme of a rap video. Kelly then showed jurors a copy of the short rap video.

Schmidt asked jurors in his closing argument if they really thought Rivera was sophisticated enough to make up a second victim. He said Rivera is not "the mastermind" Kelly made him out to be.

Schmidt said Resto is a former mixed martial arts fighter. "You see how large he is," Schmidt said, saying Rivera is only 145 pounds.

"He's terrified of Vito Resto," Schmidt said of Rivera, asking "why on earth" Rivera would want to fabricate a story about Resto.

Schmidt said Kelly wants jurors to believe Resto "out of the goodness of his heart" went to Home Depot to get material rappers could use in a video.

"Why are there Velcro straps on it?" Schmidt asked.

Last year's three-day Celebrate Holyoke festival drew more than 10,000 people, organizers said.

HOLYOKE -- The Celebrate Holyoke Planning Committee will hold a fundraiser that will include music, food, drinks and silent auctions Saturday from 5:30 to 10 p.m. at Gateway City Arts, 92 Race St.

"The silent auction is growing by the day. We have fantastic local art that will be available for a steal, plus other goodies, and gift certificates to spots like Coco & The Cellar Bar, Slainte, The Sierra Grille, The Lift Salon, La Veracruzana Mexican Restaurant, Capri Pizza and more," said a note on the event Facebook page.

Music will begin at 6 p.m. with local rock band Trailer Park followed at 8 p.m. by Conjunto Barrio giving a Latin jazz and salsa performance, a press release said.

Money raised at the event will go to help in staging the Celebrate Holyoke festival set for Aug. 26, 27 and 28 in and around Holyoke Heritage State Park between Dwight and Appleton streets.

The festival's three days in August drew more than 10,000 people with free music, nearly 100 food and arts vendors and the Slide the City water slide, event Executive Director Sigrid von Wendel said.

"It takes a lot of hard work and money to make an event like this happen," von Wendel has said.

The cost to attend the fundraiser is $10 a person or a suggested donation of $20, a press release from von Wendel said. Checks can be made payable to The Greater Holyoke Chamber Centennial Foundation (or GHCCF) with Celebrate Holyoke in the memo line.

Tickets are available online here: http://mifafestival.org/event/celebrate-holyoke-concert-silent-auction/

Those interested in participating in Celebrate Holyoke, including vendors, artists, entertainers, community organizations and volunteers, can contact von Wendel at (413) 210-5619, by email at sigridvw@gmail.com or by visiting celebrateholyokemass.com